[Readers Request] Tsuki ga Kirei Episode 5: Kokoro

Oh no. I kind of want to scream but the reveal at the end is fair. Even though they’re officially going out, the relationship between Akane and Kotarou doesn’t feel different at all. They still can’t talk to each other at school and are keeping their relationship a secret from everyone. They only share glances while in class, and when Kotarou actually invites Akane to the library during lunch, she doesn’t budge until she finishes eating and when she gets there, Chinatsu is there with him.

Chinatsu is not a bad girl. In fact, she’s great. She’s sweet, cute, and very friendly. And if she had known that Akane and Kotarou were dating, she most likely would never have told Akane that she had a crush on him. She’s not the type of girl to steal boys from her friends. Keeping the relationship a secret didn’t benefit anyone, but these two suck so bad at communicating that it had to be secret. And like I said, the relationship between Kotarou and Akane feel exactly the same because they haven’t had the courage to actually spend time together. They try to with the library lunch meeting, but when Akane arrives and sees Chinatsu with Kotarou, it causes a misunderstanding and causes Akane to get agitated. Kotarou apologizes at the end, even though there was absolutely nothing to apologize about. Anyway, these two are having a lot of trouble dating and they both turn to the internet for dating advice. Which I found innocently hilarious. Guggle and Yahho searching for answers, they both realize dating is pretty tough. They ask people around them as well and each get advice. The stress dating affects them, namely Akane. Her time in track is getting worse and Hira notices it. He reaches out to her and talks to her after practice, and some girls notice that and think they’re dating. And thankfully Akane dispels the misunderstandings, because the one thing I hate in romances are the misunderstandings.

As mentioned, Chinatsu gots lots of screentime this episode. She notices Kotarou talking to the teacher in the staff room and calls out to him. She admits that she totally sucks at language arts and asks him which cram schools in the area are good. He says the one he goes to is pretty good and so she becomes interested. Later, during the aforementioned lunch date, Chinatsu just happened to go to the library and they talk while Akane is getting there. She tells her that she’s going to take a tour and check out Kotarou’s cram school and this causes jealousy on Akane’s end, and Kotarou doesn’t really make things better either. One night while Kotarou is at cram school, he notices Chinatsu there taking the tour and after the class they walk home together. They get close when Chinatsu moves away from a car, and I suppose that’s when her crush started. At the end of the episode, Kotarou and Akane meet up at the bookstore he frequents and they finally have a normal conversation in person, albeit still awkward. The hand holding was awkward and cute, but the body language really tells you how separate they still are.

They sit apart from each other. Akane is on a stool instead of sitting on the steps next to him, and her body is slightly turned away from him. She has her hands nervously on her thighs close to her body, clutching her squishy potato. And most importantly, they can’t even make eye contact with each other. Sure, they shared normal words with each other about school and studying, and what Kotarou said about her running was sweet but they still need work. It was awkward and cute when they held hands.

But Dazai Osamu is right, humans have secrets. One secret being their relationship, which in turn caused Akane to learn a new secret: Chinatsu thinks she has a crush on Kotarou.

Chinatsu is more outgoing and talkative, and she has an easier time talking to Kotarou than Akane does, so it’s no wonder that their friendship is leagues ahead of his relationship with Akane. But now learning this secret, this’ll put things to the test for our two main characters. This relationship can’t be a secret forever.

4 Responses

With this couple, do you expect anything less? This is uncharted territory for both of them, and it would be out of character if they started to behave differently. No need to rush things, take it slowly. You can’t rush relationships else they just break. I mean, they really only could communicate when alone, so communicating in public seems like a big step. Still, their moment alone at the bookstore was adorable, especially with how their hand holding progressed. that was adorable.

I’m not saying that they should rush things or behave completely differently than they usually do. I had a feeling that they would keep their relationship a secret from everyone judging from how secretive they’ve always been. I understand that communicating in public is huge, but at least a “hi” or just a few words exchanged wouldn’t be impossible. But, ehh…kids.

But yes, I love the bookstore owner for being such a nice friend to Kotarou! Also, I always forget to mention the after-credit shorts, but this time’s was especially hilarious, namely the one with Akane’s parents meeting her sister’s boyfriend.

Meinertzhagen’s Haversack. People perceive them as being quiet already, not really talking with each other at all. They really only talk with one another at private moments or through LINE. If they start behaving differently, such as saying ‘hi’ and stuff to each other, people might catch on, their relationship might not be private anymore, they’ll be subjected to scrutiny, and the magic that was their relationship might crumble in the face of peer pressure. Right now, they have to act as if nothing’s changed, though this may just be me trying to legitimize their actions. I mean, as their first relationship, they got to nurture it slowly. You can’t just start diving into quantum mechanics without a fundamental background in elementary physics.

Well, you do bring up a good point in that they’ve never even once have spoken to each other at school. Everyone would definitely think it weird that they suddenly talk to each other out of the blue all friendly when they never did. And knowing how curious kids are, well yeah it can get crazy fast. I agree with that.